Dirty deeds with dirty money for the few

The U.S. government’s lack of regulation or care for their constituents has gone far enough. It was recently revealed that some major U.S. banks have been laundering billions of dollars of illegal drug money from the Mexican cartels.

These banks include JPMorgan/Chase, Bank of America and Western Union, according to an article on alternet.org, a news and entertainment website.

An article on Bloomberg.com, a well known news website, stated, “The Department of Justice has decided that these banks are too big to prosecute to the full extent of the law.”

The site also stated that the department and banks struck a deal called the deferred prosecution agreement, which stated banks could continue to house drug money if they admitted to it and paid a small fine.

This is outrageous. The corporate giants are sticking together to make sure the flow of money continues. The system is completely backward. A democratic government should be making decisions that will benefit the public, not take advantage of it. Admitting to a federal crime should not give anyone a free pass to continue doing it, especially a highly regarded public office.

That’s not to mention the crackdown on drug use in the U.S. that the federal government is so ruthless about. They don’t mind sending someone to jail for years for having a few grams of marijuana on them, yet they are harboring billions of dollars that are being used to harm people far worse than pot ever did.

The federal government, as well as it’s banks, has been covering up it’s actions for much too long. These conglomerates need to realize there are consequences for their actions. If they are not going to be punished by the legal system, perhaps a more barbaric way of payment is appropriate. This could very well lead to violent and riots and protests.

It is immoral how little the constitution really matters in a country founded by it. According to CNN, the CEO of Bank of America made $1.5 million in 2007. However, with added benefits and stock options, this man made a virtual $24.8 million in total compensation in 2007 alone.

That is a ridiculously large number. Just imagine what that number is now. It is very clear that all these people, and I hesitate to even call them that, care about is keeping their grossly high salaries.

However, this issue doesn’t just affect the people of America, it also impacts the Mexicans who have to live with the cartel at their doorsteps. There are countless reports every day of the violence that occurs at the hands of these criminals. It does not make anyone feel safer knowing the U.S. government endorses this behavior.

There are numerous accounts of vigilante groups marching into their own slaughterhouses because the governments of Mexico and the U.S. fail to do anything about the cartel’s rise to power.

Thousands of innocent people die each day at the hands of the cartel, yet the people who can make it stop are looking on, happily eating their lobster and caviar in a bathtub full of dirty drug money.